Seashore
by Elderdrake
Summary: Amelia and Zel share an afternoon at the seashore


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SEASHORE

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By

Elderdrake

Slayers Characters © 1991-2002 Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, a whole lot of other people and not a few multinational corporations. I'm not looking for a piece of their action, just paying homage to it. Story and all other content © 2002 D. Robbins

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Amelia carefully picked her way through the slippery cobbles of a rocky beach. It wasn't easy with the tea thermos and snacks in the sack she carried over one shoulder. She had already had a couple of close calls, paying for one with a stubbed toe and the other with a tidal-pool soaking of one boot. Now facing a particularly nasty-looking stretch of barnacle-encrusted, seaweed-furred and jumbled boulders around yet another craggy outcropping, she decided to pause and seriously reconsider where her next step was going. Back towards the hot spring resort they were all visiting, before going their separate ways again, was _definitely_ one of the options. 

But Amelia was a girl on a mission. Mister Zelgadis was out here somewhere, doing whatever it was he'd been doing out here every afternoon. She'd had enough of Lina and Gourry's friendly, but incessantly bickering, company for one day, and had decided to find more pleasant company for the rest of the afternoon. An ironic laugh briefly threatened. She was probably the only person in the world who would actually seek out the blue-skinned and standoffish Chimera for pleasant company'.

They were on a wild stretch of hilly coast, south of Atlass City and north of where the last of the mountains that divided Saillune from Elmikia tumbled into the Demons Ocean. Fishing villages nestled into a few larger coves, and a couple of resorts were all that the region boasted. The beaches were all rock and boulders, separated by low headlands that were rounded on top but battered and jagged where they met the water. Inland was low twisted scrub, oppressed and held-down by year-round harsh winds and salt spray. Further back, was rocky, swampy forestland that she thought supported a few hunters and trappers and not much else besides a healthy population of monsters and beastmen, like all the unsettled parts of the continent.

Amelia glanced skyward and concluded that all evidence indicated this land had been made for the birds. There certainly were enough of them. They filled the mostly overcast sky: terns, puffins, pelicans, boobies, a dozen kinds she couldn't put a name to. Most of all, though, were the gulls. Their cries, drifting on the harsh breeze, helped lift the land's wild loneliness to an almost sublime sort of rugged beauty. She briefly wondered why seabirds — who always seemed to be having the time of their life swooping and diving over the waves — all had such sad-sounding cries.

It then drifted across her mind that her current surroundings were a perfect match for Mister Zelgadis. Maybe that explained why he was out here every day from lunch until after sunset

She wrenched her musings back to the mundane business of making it over the next few boulders. _One more headland_, she thought, _and if I can't see him, I'll turn back_ Picking a path, she gingerly made her way up and around the rocks. Her persistence was finally rewarded as she crested the outcrop and spotted Zelgadis poking around on the beach inside the next cove.

"HEEYYY! Mister Zelgaaadissssss!" Waving enthusiastically, she strained to make herself be heard over the crashing combers and blustery wind. He probably hadn't understood a word but caught her voice, she thought, as he first startled in surprise, then turned to wave her on down. His welcome was followed by a gesture indicating she should go left.

She did, and after about a dozen yards found a spot where several large, relatively dry boulders made for a fair semblance of a staircase. She hopped down and set out across the cobble beach, every footstep accompanied by crunching of old, storm tossed seashells. As she approached her friend, she could see he was wearing the odd little half smile that had become his trademark of late.

He greeted her once she got within earshot. "Well, Amelia. What brings you out here? No, let me guess, it was Lina whining nonstop at Gourry over that last roasted quarter chicken platter from lunch?"

Amelia made a grimace. "You got it, though that's not all" Smiling, she loosed the sack from her shoulder and held it up, dangling. "Afternoon tea? And I've been kind of curious what keeps you so occupied out here" Then she gestured with her free hand towards the booming, splashing waves and swirling birds. " though I'm maybe starting to get an idea. It's actually rather pretty, isn't it? Even without the sun."

He glanced seaward. "Yeah" Then he turned back. "And I appreciate your timing. Tea would go very good right now. It's a cool day." He looked her over appraisingly. "Can you stand one more headland? The next cove over is better sheltered from the breeze, and I left some stuff there."

Amelia looked down, then wobblingly stood on one dry foot so she could pick bits of seaweed off the wet one and rub at her heel. "I guess so if there isn't too much more rock scrambling. I think I'm getting blisters."

"You actually walked beaches the whole way?" He pointed inland. "There's a good footpath just back of that roll of land that happens to go the length of this coast, you know."

Amelia was dumbfounded. "Oh" She offered a sheepish grin: "Well, at least I got lots — and lots and lots — of exercise." Then she blinked. "A path? Where does all the traffic come from, way out here?"

Zel opened his mouth to explain, then thought better of it. "You'll see." He motioned his willingness to take the sack with lunch, but Amelia just shook her head and shouldered it again herself. Side by side they worked their way up the beach and over the sandy rise that might once have been a line of dunes but was now grassed over and immobile.

The back of the ridge trailed gently away inland, fading into what looked like boglands. Amelia gasped a little at the top. The whole sloping surface was tinged blue. She dropped down for a closer look, then glanced disbelievingly, left and right along the length of the ridge. All blue, as far as the eye could see.

"Oh, WOW! I've never seen so many blueberries!" She filled a hand with a single rake of her fingers through the low, yellowed ground cover. She popped the pile into her mouth. "Yummy!"

"They seem to like the sandy soil here. And, I think those bogs are full of cranberries: see how they're all so pink-red? I don't like wet feet so I haven't checked up close." He then pointed at several hollows filled with waist high, brownish canes. "And those are all wild raspberries though it's more than a month past their season. Nothing left." He smiled at her a little more widely, watching her cram blueberries into her mouth. "The edge of the woods is lined with gooseberry bushes, too. It's berry heaven, which is why the path. The locals obviously take advantage of it. We might want to ask the resort restaurant why their blueberry pies cost so much, though"

Amelia stood up, her white pants now stained purple in one or two spots where she had kneeled on berry bushes. Absently she brushed at the stains, not really bothered by them, as they were only a laundering cantrip away from obliteration. "Mister Zelgadis? We just have to bring some berries back for Miss Lina and Mister Gourry! Don't you think?"

His tone was wry. "Could we bring back enough?"

So was hers. "Probably not, but it's the thought that counts, right?"

"I suppose so." As he spoke, there was a sudden brightening that quickly faded. Zel glanced up at the clouds, which were beginning to shred and tatter. "Looks like we might even get some sun." He gestured down the path. "Shall we?"

"Sure!"

They walked a few hundred yards, both pausing every so often to grab a handful of berries, before the Chimera turned back seaward, over the rise, and down into a medium sized cove. A stream, trickling out of the boglands, riffled and splashed down one side of the beach. Several pieces of sun-bleached driftwood were scattered across the open ground. Zel steered them towards one upturned tree trunk. His daypack leaned against the twisty, wind-sculptured root end.

Zel sat down on the log as Amelia laid out the tea and snacks on a cloth. The sun speared down at them again as she began pouring tea. The cheering brightness and warmth lasted a full minute this time. Above, the clouds above were beginning to look ragged, visibly scooting inland.

Amelia paused in her pouring of the tea to glance seaward, where, at the horizon, a noticeably widening band of clear blue sky had developed. "Wow. That was really quick it was unbroken clouds and looked ready to rain until just after I found you. Though I guess that's why they call it a sea change, neh?" She topped off and handed him one of the glazed earthenware mugs.

Zel was nodding. "A sea change indeed. Don't let it fool you, though. With clouds moving that fast, it'll probably storm tonight." He sipped at the tea with relish. "Aaah. That's good. It always seems even chillier than it is with that breeze off the water. The warm tea is nice."

Amelia had filled her own mug and sat down a comfortable distance from him on the log. "A storm? Ever the optimist, I see And I'm sure that chill's why Miss Lina spends the whole day hunkered down in walled-off hot spring pools." She laughed. "She really hates the cold, doesn't she?"

Zel, in the middle of a sip, could only offer an agreeable "Mmmph-hmph."

There was an interval of silence as they finished their mugs and nibbled on pastries, watching the big waves roll in and crash spectacularly on a shelf of rock that almost closed off the mouth of their cove. Amelia watched a gull hover mere inches above the surging foam, then suddenly drop down, only to go into a flapping high climb a moment later, carrying something in its beak.

She watched it soar up, chased by rivals trying to pirate the morsel. The gull drifted inland then let the object it had carried drop. It then raced down to beat its competition to where the thing had landed, raucously crying defiance at any that got too close.

"What was that all about?" She asked Zel.

"You don't know?" He seemed a little surprised.

"I like adventuring and the outdoors a lot, but I'm really a city girl — actually, a sheltered palace girl - if you think about it" She gave him a self-deprecating smile, brushing a stray, breeze-blown strand of hair out of her eyes. "Pigeons and sparrows I know something about. Gulls I don't."

Zel just blinked. "I suppose you're right. Well, you see, gulls like sea urchins and crabs and other shellfish. To get at the meat, they drop them onto rocks from a hundred feet up or so."

"Smart birds. I feel a little sorry for the crabs, though."

"It's got to be quicker and kinder than being boiled alive, like we do to them at gourmet restaurants."

"There is that, I guess"

Zel hesitated a little, then continued. "And you do yourself an injustice, you know. Most city girls' would have taken one look at barnacles and slimy, seaweed-covered rocks and gone straight back to their hot spring and poolside cocktail service. You clambered over a full mile of them. Give yourself the credit. There's a lot — a great lot — more to you than any sheltered palace girl, or even most city girls."

Amelia's head whipped around from her survey of the waves to stare in open-faced astonishment at Zel. Had she actually just scored an open compliment from the stoic and reserved Chimera? She blinked several times, then turned away, to hide the blush she felt coming on. "I Thanks Mister Zelgadis. It's nice of you to say so." She was a little annoyed that her voice came out soft and girlish.

He made an embarrassed little cough, and cleared his throat. "Ahem! It's only the truth."

After a momentary uncomfortable silence, Amelia's eyes flicked sidewise. Zel was sitting with arms crossed, looking away down coast. Maybe hiding a blush of his own? It was, somehow, a very encouraging thought.

She fished for a way to get conversation rolling again. "So, ahhh, Mister Zelgadis? What else beside wave watching and berry picking do you do out here all afternoon?"

Seemingly relieved by a return to mundane small-talk Zel visibly relaxed. At least, relaxed as much as he ever did. "Well hum lots of things, I guess. Most of it probably seems silly"

"Never."

"Well, okay. Some beachcombing. There are lots of different shells to be found, especially down a few more coves, where things become sandier. And when the tide is farther out, there's lots of things to see out at water's edge, like starfish, and snails, and anemones have you ever seen a brittle star?"

"No. What's that?"

"It's like a starfish but very thin and delicate. They're usually bright red or orange, or even pink. You'd probably find them pretty. Too late today, though, the tide's already halfway in."

"What do you do with the seashells?"

"Mostly I just see how many different kinds I can find and put a name to. Then, sometimes" He bent over and rustled through his pack for a moment. "sometimes, I'm lucky enough to find a few that jewelers or inlay-workers in the towns like to use. They're light enough to bother carrying for several days and worth a decent coin or two." He showed her several perfect scallop shells, some cream and beige, others a blend of dusty rose and soft purple. There was also a sackful of little snail-like things in delicately patterned, polished brown and white. Amelia recognized the latter as a kind currently popular in Saillune. They were used in jewelry and as fancy buttons, especially among style-conscious merchants and lesser nobility who couldn't justify the expense of gold and gems for every earring and cufflink.

"Those are pretty but how much can you get for them, really?"

"Classier tailors in Atlass would pay enough for a week's food and lodgings for that sackful."

"That much for _seashells_? It's hard to believe."

"Tell me about it. I'll never understand why people pay that much just because something is fashionable, but I'm more than happy to be able to profit from it. And ahem it is a lot less work than pillaging bandit camps, if not quite as lucrative."

"I think Miss Lina does that as much for the fun of it — to her mind — as for the profit." Wanting to keep the conversation glued on Zel's interests and hobbies, and not the tired old ground of Miss Lina's foibles, Amelia aimed her curious gaze around the Chimera and down at his daypack. "So what else have you got in _your_ little sack of looted treasures?"

"You mean I haven't bored you yet?"

Amelia threw him a big smile: "_Ab_-so-lute-ly _not_!"

"If you say so." He bent down to rustle in the sack for a moment. "Well, I guess there's these" Amelia watched as he pulled out several fist-sized, rounded, featureless gray rocks and laid them in a neat row at his feet. "I've collected these over a few days. Now's as good a time as any to see if it was worth it."

"What's so special about those, Mister Zelgadis?"

"See for yourself." He gestured in an offhand sort of way at the rocks, then reached into his cloak and pulled out the kit that held his lock picks and some other tools. He unfolded it to select a light hammer and a small chisel.

Amelia had picked the largest one up. It was surprisingly lightweight, way too light, in fact, for its size. She glanced at Zell, her eyes brimming with curiosity.

Zel decided to leave her guessing. "I'm hoping to get lucky I think it's the right kind of rocks around here for a surprise or two."

"What do you mean?" She started to hand the stone back.

He held up a hand. "Why don't you hang on to that one? We'll call it for luck, while I try these others."

"Oh Okay." Her mild bafflement echoed in her words. What was up? She scooted closer, then leaned to get a better view of what Zelgadis was going to do.

Zel nestled one of the rocks on his lap, and began tapping at it with hammer and chisel. He worked at it for several minutes, eventually producing a narrow channel that wrapped halfway around the rock. Then he set hammer and chisel aside, and seemed to concentrate for a moment.

He touched one finger to the groove, and muttered: "_Dug Tap_".

Liquid white flared along the groove, followed by a flash and the sound of cracking rock.

Amelia raised an eyebrow. "A scaled-down _Dug Haut_? If you could use magic, why all the chiselling?"

"The spell works better when the rock is already weakened in the direction you want it split. Now then" He picked up one of the halves. "let's see what we have hereOho! I was right about the kinds of rocks around here."

Amelia leaned closer. "What? Oh! How pretty! I've never seen something like that before! What is it?"

Zel had turned the rock so she could see. It was mostly hollow. The cavity was lined with tiny, perfectly formed white crystals that flashed and sparkled where they caught the sun. They were growing on lumpy bed of swirling pale blue, white and gray layers, so delicate one could just barely make them out.

"The layered part is agate. The crystals inside this one are just plain old quartz. They grow inside spaces in the rock. Then, because the agate is so hard, they linger as round rocks even after getting knocked out of the cliffs and rolled around in the waves."

"Agate? I know that stuff. I've seen it in cheap jewelry but it's usually so brightly coloured."

"Agate takes dyes pretty well, and jewelers seem to think bright colours are better. I've always preferred the natural tones, myself. Sometimes, you can get reds and browns besides the white and blue and gray." He paused to admire it, then: "I think we can do better than this one though."

"Really? Then please, I want to see." Zel picked up another one of his rocks, and Amelia crowded even closer to watch him work in the fading late afternoon light. The next three were much the same as the first, though one was nearly filled solid with agate rather than just being lined with it. Another had thin, intensely red-purple bands mixed in with the usual pale colours. But, both Amelia and the Chimera were starting to feel a little disappointed at the lack of variety.

Zel picked up the fifth, and last before the one Amelia was still cradling. "Well, we can hope with this one. It's from almost the last beach within a day's trip, where the rocks are quite different."

"How so?"

"More limestone down that way, which can fill with different crystals but we'll see." He set to work.

Amelia found herself feeling considerable anticipation as she watched him chip out the groove needed to direct his spell. It was fun, finding out what treasures each of the hollow rocks might hold. Then she suddenly noticed how cool things had become, with the sun dropping and her sitting so still now for almost an hour. She shivered.

Zel suddenly stopped, eyes flicking sharply her way, verging on a glare. At that very second, Amelia realized that, in wanting to see as much as she could, she had pressed quite close shoulder, side, thigh and knee in full body contact with her companion. Zel must have felt the shiver. And he had such a very large personal space! 

She began scrambling back. "Eeeep! Sorry, I didn't mean to crowd you"

He blinked. "What? Oh n-no, you were just trying to see what I was doing I-I'm sorry I glared. But, why didn't you tell me you were getting cold?"

It was her turn to blink. "Oh, no, no, no! I just realized it myself the getting cold part I mean" Then she did a double take. "Er you didn't mind? Really?"

"Mind? No, not really. I guess. I'm actually a little stunned someone besides me finds this sort of thing so interesting. But if you're getting cold we should head back."

"No! Er, I mean, well, I like it out here. Back there is just Miss Lina sniping at Mister Gourry in the same old hotspring hotel I've been at for a week. I'll be okay. Really!"

The look Zelgadiss gave her held amused skepticism. "Well, if you say so but just in case" He stood up, untied his outer cloak, and before Amelia could utter a single word in protest, he plunked the thing around her shoulders. 

She found her voice. "B-but, Mister Zelgadis? Now you'll be cold"

"I'll be fine." He patted at his long-sleeved arms in affirmation. "After all, I'm not the one who wore a short-sleeved outfit to a windy late-summer beach." He sat down and resumed his chiselling, missing Amelia's mixed blush of embarrassment at her lack of forethought, and pleasure over Zelgadis' gentlemanly action.

She quickly regrouped, and scurried over to sit close beside him again. Zel tapped the chisel a few more times, then unleashed his homespun spell and looked. "Well, well, what do you know? Different crystals indeed"

Amelia held her breath as he lifted the rock to eye level.

It was lined with layers of dark silver, white and pale orange. The hollow space inside was mostly covered with small, sparkling, white, curvy crystals that looked like grains of rice. But the real treasure seemed to be growing on the rice: hundreds of perfect, little shimmering golden pyramids, purple cubes, and flat blue hexagons, like some weird magical little city.

Zel chuckled. "I think I'll keep this spot a secret."

"Why? These are incredible."

"The wrong kind of incredible. Those crystals are all ores of copper, and also the substance essential to make those rich blue enamels for the best tiles and china. And where there's some, there will be lots. Tell a metalsmith or miner about this place, and they'll make a fortune ripping the land hereabouts to shreds. And to heck with the crystals, the birds, and the scenery."

"Oh, that's sad." She glanced at her own rock. "So much for my good luck, neh? We'll not top that last one"

"Only one way to tell." He took the rock when she offered it, and set to work.

Convinced the previous rock wouldn't be beat, Amelia couldn't bring herself to watch as Zel cast his little spell. She looked seaward instead, at the sun that was now only a few fingerwidths from the horizon, and the waves which had faded from rolling goliaths to mere surging chop as the weather had changed.

The crack of the rock was followed by silence. Then came a whistle of appreciation. 

"Amelia? You sold yourself short again. You ARE good luck. This is what I was dreaming of finding. Take a look."

She did. And sucked in her breath.

The last rock had the now familiar outer ring of agate, and inner ring of quartz. But, the innermost lining of the hollow was of the richest, deepest purple she had ever seen. And the purple was all in fingernail-sized crystals. She blinked. Amethysts generally weren't the most expensive of gems, but the clearest, most purple crystals could sell for as much as rubies. The inside of her' rock was a small fortune waiting to happen.

"Wow" Then she sighed wistfully. "Amethysts always were my sister's favorite, you know? Purple was her favourite colour."

Zel blinked. Then coughed. "Well, hum you're welcome to that half, if you want it. I can get enough for a year of travel off the other half."

"Oh no! I didn't mean that"

"Amelia. Please? I know you didn't mean that. But I did mean you were welcome to it. For coming out for being interested in for actually wanting to spend time" He struggled, grasping for a comfortable reason. "well, just for being a good friend, OK? Friends can give gifts without strings attached, right?"

"O O.K." She was glad for the reddening light of the sinking sun, covering what she knew was a fresh rush of blood to her cheeks. She glanced down at the magnificent bowl of crystalline purple nestled in her lap. A gift, fine, but neh, one worth so much?

She shivered again. Not from the cold, as the breeze had been dying along with the day.

Zel didn't know she wasn't cold, though. They weren't touching this time, but he saw the frisson wash over her body. "Still chilled? Maybe we should go"

Amelia was sure of one thing, and that was that she didn't want what had become an almost magical afternoon with Zelgadis to end quite yet. She looked out to sea again. The flocks of birds had become shifting black silhouettes, drifting landward against a sunset which was turning into one of those amazing vivid ones that been happening frequently of late. Since they beat DarkStar. Then she suddenly realized something.

"I Mister Zelgadis if you want to go, we can. But, you know, I don't think I've ever just sat, and watched the sun go down over the ocean, ever, before. Would you mind so very, very much?"

"It'll be dark going back"

"I can light the way with a lighting spell"

"Well, alright then. If you'll be warm enough"

"I'll manage. I'm tough, remember? What's a chilly breeze compared to Demon-Dragon King Gaav or Mister Erulogos? And" Then she stopped, and smacked her forehead. "Oh!"

"What?"

"We're both idiots!" She reached down to the pack she had brought and held up the thermos that was still half-full, and warm. "We still have tea!" She immediately dropped down to pour fresh mugs. Finding Zel's oversize — for her — cloak getting in the way, she unwrapped herself from it and handed it back. He accepted it, wordlessly.

Moments later, she was back seated next to him. Both sipped at tea as the sun hit the horizon and began disappearing into the sea. As it did, the breeze dropped to nothing. The waves, already much weakened, quickly faded even more, to ripples, then to almost flat. The sea was suddenly a mirror of liquid red and gold

The silence after the booming surf earlier that day was almost stunning. Even the birds had all gone, except for a lone silently drifting albatross. Amelia was suddenly conscious of nothing more than her own breathing, and Zel's, and a tingle in her ears and cheeks that said she had gotten more than a little windburn. Her almost empty mug had stopped its regular trip from lap to lips. The slurp of tea in that silence would have been sacrilege.

The sea turned to liquid copper as the sun sank even further. Then, almost as if it were choreographed, even as the last molten red-orange sliver of the sun disappeared, the breeze picked up again, now coming off the land. The first gust visibly flashed across the surface of the sea, stirring riffles that caught the last rays of sunshine and set them dancing and sparkling straight to the beach and the seated pair. A final winking glint caught at Amelia's eye and she glanced down, to see the last sparkles of the sun reflecting off the gem that adorned her right bracelet. In that near supernatural moment, sudden inspiration took hold.

She tossed back the last of her tea and set the mug aside. Then she slipped the bracelet off. Briefly, she held it, swinging slightly, at eye level, silently bidding it fond farewell into what she hoped would prove a far better service than any it had yet given her.

Zel had caught her movements and watched with curiosity that grew to open bafflement at what this might be all about.

Amelia set him straight without hesitation. She grabbed his free hand, and firmly pressed the bracelet into the open palm. "Mister Zelgadis. I want you to have this."

"What? No, wait, I said that the amethysts were given with no strings"

She had absolute confidence in what she was doing, enough to lightly place a finger over his protesting lips, enough to even put her heart on full display in her eyes. "Shush. No strings here either. If friends can give gifts with no strings attached, they can also give whatever they know — absolutely _know_ - they want to give, right? Bracelets or anything else. I want you to have this, because you just gave me the most perfect afternoon I can ever remember having For once I was just Amelia. Not Amelia the Princess, not Amelia the Ambassador, not Amelia the Sorceress, not Amelia Lina's Sidekick nor Amelia the Assistant Saviour of the World: just Amelia, the friend accepted by Mister Zelgadis the loner And because you said I was good luck. Keep it close. Just maybe, it will bring you good luck in all those times when I can't be around to bring you good luck in person, all those times when you must be travelling the world, attending to your quest, and I must be in Saillune attending to my duties."

Zelgadis opened and closed his mouth several times. But nothing came out. Amelia took both her hand and her gaze from his, and he turned to stare at the bracelet in his hand. Finally, he managed to try and choke out words. "Amelia I can't"

"Shush. I know what you're going to say. Don't. Didn't you hear me earlier? I'm tough. I'll manage. I am also very patient about most anything but perpetrators of injustice. Or hadn't you noticed? Do whatever you feel you must, for however long it takes, and know you will always — ALWAYS, hear me? - have my goodwill and support and all the understanding any one person can ever manage to give to another. If you still want to finish that I can't' after a few more years, _then_ I will accept it. But not before, and, I absolutely forbid you to have one moment of angst over this. What will be, will be, okay?"

Zel stared at the bracelet in his hand for a long time, silent. Then clasped his fingers over the bauble, took a deep breath, stood up, and gazed out over the sea to the far horizon. He stood that way for a long time, until the just passed day was little more than a faint yellow band on the horizon and the first stars were out.

Amelia watched, almost reeling with all the butterflies in her chest now that the moment of absolute certainty was passing. Every sense was bent toward her companion. Had she said too much? Too little? Had she badly misjudged Zel's feelings? Or hit them square on, even if he himself didn't know what they were yet?

She watched, heart no longer in her eyes but, rather, in her mouth, as Zel's silhouette opened the hand, then bent to contemplate the bracelet again. Then he straightened, brought the bracelet to his belt, and looped it firmly in place.

Amelia almost fainted with relief. The world came back into sharp relief. She could hear the gentle lap of wavelets, the soft evening breeze, crickets in the brush and frogs in the bogs, chirping night birds and bats in the air. The whole nightshift was in now full swing how long had she sat there, waiting, while he stood, deliberating?

Zel turned to her. "We'd best be getting back before Lina gets hysterical with worry — or lets her imagination run away with her. And that total calm right at sunset means we are _definitely_ in for a storm. Like I said." The moon was not yet up, Amelia couldn't see much, but heard the smile in his voice.

She stood up, feeling giddy. "Miss Lina only gets hysterical with worry over her next meal. But her imagination IS a real concern, isn't it? And, Lina aside, still ever the optimist about storms, I see."

Zel walked over, and dropped his cloak around her shoulders again. "How about that light spell? Or are we supposed to find the hotel's lunch service and thermos, pack up, and pick our way back by stumbling through the dark?"

Amelia giggled and complied, producing a soft silvery glowing ball. Then: "Oh no! We forgot to pick berries for Miss Lina and Mister Gourry!"

Zel's answer was disgruntled. "It's too late. Let them come out here and pick their own berries. Maybe the sea air will finally clear things up between them as much as it has for us. And we can actually enjoy the hotspring by ourselves for a change." Then he stiffened, chuckling silently. "Oh gods! Can you imagine what they would look like after fighting over who gets the last picnic snack in an ankle-deep, hundred-foot wide, twelve mile long blueberry patch?"

Amelia could. Her peal of silvery laughter silenced the crickets and the frogs and rose far and up to touch the heavens, where all the rest of the stars were quickening, almost seeming to be set twinkling by the brush with her merriment.

Fin


End file.
